Republican leaders in the Minnesota Senate today said Amy Koch stepped down as Senate Majority Leader yesterday after they confronted her about allegations that she engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a male staffer. Koch abruptly resigned on Thursday, surprising some of her closest colleagues. She said at the time that she felt it was time to resign her position.

“None of us are perfect,” Michel said. “We don’t claim to be. We want to be proud of the Minnesota Senate and how it’s run. We understand that’s a special obligation on those of us to maintain the high standards.”

Michel said Koch did not confirm or deny the allegations. She did not return calls to MPR News today.

Michel would not identify the Senate staffer in question except to say it was a man.

About the blogger

Tom Scheck has covered politics and state government for more than ten years for MPR News. He’s covered several gubernatorial campaigns, two statewide recounts, the presidential bids of Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann, U.S. Senate races, close Congressional contests and the Minnesota Legislature. He lives in Falcon Heights with his wife, son and dog. He can sometimes be found chasing a white ball on a golf course. It isn’t a straight walk. Tips are welcome at tscheck@mpr.org

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It would be quite galling to find out former Sen. Koch was in this “inappropriate” affair while her Senate GOP was voting on whether gay and lesbian Minnesotan’s relationships will be banned from legal recognition.

As too often happens, the party that claims the twin mantles of family values and “protection of marriage” can’t live up to either in their own, heterosexual lives.

It’d just be sad if they weren’t also messing with LGBT Minnesotan’s liberty.

John Persico

On the plus side, we are rid of another hypocrtical republican. The party of greed and sleeze loses another one of its troops. Good riddance.